What to enter
- Regular hourly rate
- Your base hourly wage. For federal overtime purposes the rate that counts is your “regular rate,” which can include some pay beyond the base wage, such as non-discretionary bonuses. If you receive those, the true rate may be higher than your base wage.
- Total hours worked this week
- All hours you worked in the workweek, including hours over the threshold. Enter quarter hours as decimals: 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75.
- Overtime starts after
- The number of hours after which the premium applies. Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act it is 40 hours in a workweek for most non-exempt employees. Your employer, union contract or state may set a lower or different threshold.
- Overtime multiplier
- Use 1.5 for time-and-a-half and 2 for double time. Some contracts and holidays use other multiples.
How to read your results
The result is your gross pay for the week: hours up to the threshold at the regular rate, plus the hours above it at the overtime rate. The table also shows the overtime rate, your average pay per hour worked, and the premium portion of the overtime pay, which is the extra you earn beyond what those same hours would have paid at the regular rate. The last line multiplies the week by 52 as an illustration of what a schedule like this one would produce over a year. Few people work overtime every week, so treat it as an upper bound.
All amounts are before taxes. Overtime is taxed like other wages, and withholding on a large paycheck can look higher than usual because payroll systems annualize the pay of a single period, even though the effect evens out at tax time.
How overtime pay is calculated
Overtime pay = overtime hours × hourly rate × multiplier
Total pay = regular pay + overtime payRegular hours are the lesser of hours worked and the threshold. Overtime hours are hours worked minus the threshold, never below zero.
The average hourly pay is total pay divided by all hours worked, and the premium is the overtime hours times the rate times (multiplier − 1). For time-and-a-half, the premium is half of the base rate for each overtime hour, because the first “one” is what those hours would have earned anyway.
Worked example
$20 an hour, 45 hours, time-and-a-half after 40
Regular pay is 40 × $20 = $800.00. The overtime rate is $20 × 1.5 = $30, and 5 overtime hours earn $150.00. Gross pay for the week is $950.00, an average of $21.11 for each of the 45 hours worked. The premium portion, the amount above straight time, is $50.00.
Double time. At 52 hours with a 2× multiplier after 40, 12 overtime hours pay $40 each, so gross pay is $1,280.00.
Under the threshold. At 38 hours, there is no overtime, and pay is simply $760.00.
A lower threshold. If a contract starts overtime at 44 hours instead of 40, 45 hours produces just one overtime hour, and total pay is $910.00 instead of $950.00.
The rules behind overtime
Federal law sets a baseline. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires covered, non-exempt employees to be paid at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of seven consecutive 24-hour periods, so hours cannot be averaged across two weeks to avoid overtime. Whether an employee is exempt depends on job duties and salary level, not on the job title or on being paid a salary. Many salaried employees are still entitled to overtime.
State laws can go further. Some states require overtime after a certain number of hours in a day, require double time after a higher number of hours, or set special rules for the seventh consecutive day of work. Because the calculator only handles a weekly total, it does not model daily overtime tiers; if your state or employer uses them, calculate each tier separately or run the calculator once per tier. Your pay stub, employment agreement or state labor agency can confirm the rules that apply to you.
Tax law changed for 2025 through 2028. Under the federal deduction sometimes called “no tax on overtime,” eligible workers may deduct the premium part of qualified overtime pay, up to $12,500 a year ($25,000 on a joint return), with the deduction phasing out at higher incomes. It is claimed on the tax return, not through payroll withholding, and it has eligibility requirements. See the IRS page listed below for the current details.
Assumptions and limits
This tool computes one week at a time from the numbers you enter. It does not know your state’s overtime rules, whether you are exempt, whether bonuses change your regular rate, how your employer rounds time, or how meal breaks and travel time are treated. It also excludes taxes; use the take-home pay calculator for an after-tax estimate, and the hourly to salary calculator for a straight-time annual figure.
Frequently asked questions
How is time-and-a-half calculated?
Multiply the regular hourly rate by 1.5 and apply it to each overtime hour. At $20 an hour, time-and-a-half is $30.
Do salaried employees get overtime?
Sometimes. Salary alone does not make an employee exempt from overtime under federal law. Exempt status depends on duties and salary level, so a salaried employee who does not meet the exemption tests is entitled to overtime.
Does paid time off count toward the 40 hours?
Under the federal rules, overtime is based on hours actually worked, so paid leave that is not worked generally does not count toward the threshold. Employer policies and contracts can be more generous.
Why does my overtime paycheck seem to have more tax taken out?
Payroll withholding treats a larger paycheck as if it would repeat all year, which can push withholding higher for that period. The actual tax you owe is settled on your annual return.
Can I use this for a daily overtime rule?
Not directly. This calculator applies one weekly threshold. For daily rules, calculate each tier separately and add the amounts.